Traditional Chinese Medicine Advises Eating “Laba Porridge” on Laba Festival

Every year on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, China celebrates the traditional “Laba Festival.” On this day, it is customary to eat Laba porridge. Laba porridge, also known as “Seven Treasures Five-Flavor Porridge,” originated during the Song Dynasty. Xu Ke’s “Qing Bai Lei Chao” mentions, “Laba porridge began in the Song Dynasty. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, major temples in the capital would cook porridge with seven treasures, five flavors, and glutinous rice. Ordinary households also followed suit.”

Varieties of Laba porridge abound across China, with ingredients extending beyond the basic eight. According to “Yanjing Suishi Ji – Laba Porridge,” ingredients include “yellow rice, white rice, river rice, millet, water chestnut rice, chestnuts, red cowpeas, and peeled date paste, boiled together and dyed red with peach kernels, apricot kernels, melon seeds, peanuts, pine nuts, white sugar, red sugar, and grapes for added flavoring.” The composition and efficacy of Laba porridge vary by region and personal taste. Generally, it consists of grains, legumes, nuts, and dried fruits, providing rich nutrition and offering benefits such as warming the middle, invigorating Qi, strengthening the spleen and stomach, and nourishing the internal organs—an excellent health-promoting dish.

Benefits of Consuming Laba Porridge:

Laba porridge’s main ingredients include cereals, legumes, nuts, and dried fruits, each carrying its unique nutritional value and therapeutic effects.

1. Glutinous Rice:
Known for its ability to invigorate the middle, strengthen the spleen and stomach, nourish the lungs, and moisten the yin, glutinous rice can alleviate symptoms such as poor appetite, stagnation, constipation, and diarrhea.

2. Millet:
Sweet in taste and spleen-affinitive, millet’s yellow hue corresponds to the spleen. It benefits the spleen, stomach, kidneys, heart, and has positive effects for those with weak spleen and stomach.

3. Sticky Rice:
With properties of tonifying the spleen, warming the stomach, and invigorating the Qi, sticky rice serves as a warm, tonic food that aids in cases of reduced appetite, abdominal bloating, and diarrhea.

4. Coix Seed:
Known for its ability to invigorate the spleen, stop diarrhea, promote diuresis, and eliminate swelling, coix seed is effective against chronic enteritis and urinary difficulties.

5. Legumes:
Commonly used legumes such as adzuki beans and mung beans have specific benefits. Adzuki beans can invigorate the spleen, dry dampness, and eliminate swelling, providing therapeutic effects for spleen deficiency, edema, obesity, and hypertension. Mung beans have heat-clearing, detoxifying, diuretic effects, and are effective for symptoms of heat, constipation, and oral ulcers.

6. Walnut Kernels:
With the ability to tonify the kidneys, absorb Qi, enhance intelligence, and strengthen bones, walnut kernels are suitable for individuals with kidney deficiency, insomnia, and declining memory.

7. Peanuts:
Beneficial for nourishing the lungs and spleen, moisturizing the intestines, and promoting bowel movements, peanuts are effective against symptoms like coughing, wheezing, and lung dryness.

8. Red Dates:
Known for nourishing the middle and invigorating Qi, blood, and calming the mind, red dates are suitable for individuals with spleen deficiency, insufficient Qi and blood, and restlessness in women.

9. Longan:
Possessing the functions of nourishing the heart and spleen, invigorating blood and calming the mind, longan is suitable for individuals with insufficient Qi and blood, weak constitution, fatigue, and insomnia.

10. Lotus Seeds:
With functions such as tonifying the spleen and kidneys, stopping diarrhea, stopping vaginal discharge, calming the mind, and preventing shock, lotus seeds are often used for spleen deficiency with diarrhea, palpitations, forgetfulness, and abnormal vaginal discharge.

Laba Porridge for Different Groups:

Patients with Chronic Diseases:
Chronic disease patients should pay special attention when selecting Laba porridge ingredients. Foods rich in dietary fiber can lower blood sugar, especially soluble fiber found in oats, barley, and some legumes. These fibers form viscous substances in the stomach, slowing glucose absorption and preventing sudden postprandial blood sugar spikes. Diabetic patients who want to enjoy Laba porridge should use fewer ingredients that rapidly raise blood sugar, such as glutinous rice and rice, and incorporate more high-fiber foods like brown rice and oats to control blood sugar levels. Hypertensive patients can choose ingredients with blood pressure-lowering effects, such as coix seed, red beans, and mung beans, which have preventive effects against hyperlipidemia, hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases.

Patients with Weak Spleen and Stomach:
Patients with weak spleen and stomach need to focus on nourishing these organs. When consuming Laba porridge, choose ingredients with the effects of invigorating the spleen, nourishing the stomach, benefiting Qi, such as rice, yam, red dates, and avoid overly greasy, cold, or hard-to-digest ingredients to prevent further burden on the spleen and stomach. For those with cold spleen and stomach, prone to cold hands and feet, aversion to cold, and diarrhea, it is best to avoid ingredients like green beans, adzuki beans, buckwheat, and oats, which are cold and can harm the spleen and stomach, and instead, include more glutinous rice, red beans, longan, and red dates to invigorate the spleen and stomach and dispel cold.

Children:
Children are in a critical period of growth and development, requiring sufficient energy and nutrition. When choosing Laba porridge ingredients, it is advisable to enrich the variety. Choose ingredients rich in protein, minerals, and vitamins, such as soybeans, red beans, walnuts, and black sesame seeds. Pay attention to the taste and texture of the ingredients to avoid coughing or indigestion in children.

Elderly:
With age, the spleen and stomach functions gradually weaken, and kidney Qi diminishes in the elderly. Therefore, when consuming Laba porridge, attention should be paid to tonifying the spleen and stomach, nourishing the kidneys, and boosting essence. Choose ingredients with the effects of invigorating the spleen, nourishing the stomach, benefiting Qi, such as American ginseng, yam, coix seed, red dates, and avoid overconsumption to prevent stomach discomfort.

Pregnant Women and Women:
In early pregnancy, when morning sickness is severe, it is advisable to choose easily digestible foods, making Laba porridge an excellent choice. In the middle and late stages of pregnancy, when the fetus grows rapidly, energy needs to be replenished, and supplementation of calcium and iron is required. Add ingredients such

as red dates, longan, peanuts, black beans, and other calcium, iron, and blood-enriching foods to the porridge. Women are prone to Qi and blood deficiency, so choose ingredients that regulate Qi and blood while promoting beauty, such as red dates, wolfberry, longan, and barley.

Recommended Laba Porridge Recipes:

Classic Laba Porridge Recipe:

Ingredients:
Rice, millet, red beans, mung beans, peanuts, walnuts, red dates, longan, wolfberries.

Instructions:

1. Soak rice, millet, red beans, mung beans, peanuts, walnuts, and other grains and legumes in water for 4-6 hours to allow them to absorb water fully.
2. Place the soaked grains and legumes in a large pot, add enough water, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer slowly.
3. During the simmering process, add dried fruits such as red dates, longan, wolfberries, according to personal taste.
4. Once the grains and legumes, along with the dried fruits, are cooked to a soft consistency, turn off the heat, let the Laba porridge cool slightly, and then serve in bowls.

Laba Porridge Recipe for Patients with Weak Spleen and Stomach:

Ingredients:
American ginseng, yam, coix seed, rice, red dates, walnuts, wolfberries, lotus seeds, black sesame seeds.

Instructions:

1. Soak American ginseng, yam, coix seed, and other ingredients in water for 4-6 hours to allow them to absorb water fully.
2. Place the soaked ingredients in a large pot, add enough water, bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer slowly.
3. During the simmering process, add dried fruits such as red dates, walnuts, wolfberries, lotus seeds, according to personal taste.
4. Once the ingredients, along with the dried fruits, are cooked to a soft consistency, turn off the heat, let the Laba porridge cool slightly, and then serve in bowls.

In conclusion, individuals from different groups should choose Laba porridge ingredients that suit their needs, pay attention to dietary combinations, and during the winter, focus on keeping warm, moderate exercise, ensuring sufficient sleep to achieve better health benefits.